Victoria Real Estate Market Statistics for August 2017

Sept 1, 2017

A total of 736 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this August, 16.6 per cent fewer
than the 883 properties sold in August last year.

I admit to being a little surprised by the August numbers, notes Victoria Real Estate Board President Ara
Balabanian. I expected inventory numbers to be climbing by now, but instead weve seen even lower
numbers of listings on the market. This is likely leading to some buyer fatigue along with pressure on
pricing in high demand areas.

There were 1,917 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service at the
end of August 2017, a decrease of four properties compared to the month of July, and 8.5 per cent fewer
than the 2,094 active listings for sale at the end of August 2016.

The Multiple Listing Service Home Price Index benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria
Core in August 2016 was $743,200. The benchmark value for the same home in August 2017 has
increased by 10.8 per cent to $823,100.

Though much too early to call a trend, we do see that the August HPI benchmark value for single family
homes in the Victoria Core area has decreased by 1.3 per cent when compared to July. This is the first
time weve noted a decrease in HPI values since August 2015. adds President Balabanian. That said,
this is not an indicator of a huge change in property values across our region. Weve seen a
phenomenally busy two years in real estate for our area and we are likely heading towards a period of
more balanced activity. Note too, that though the overall HPI value shows a small month over month
decrease specific areas and specific types of product have seen increases. For example,
condominiums across the entire region are up by half a percent compared to the previous month and
single family homes in North Saanich have increased in benchmark value by almost one per cent. Its for
reasons like these that now more than ever it makes sense to seek the assistance of a local REALTOR
to sell or buy your home.

About the Victoria Real Estate Board Founded in 1921, the Victoria Real Estate Board is a key player in
the development of standards and innovative programs to enhance the professionalism of Realtors. The
Victoria Real Estate Board represents 1,368 local Realtors. If you are thinking about buying or selling a
home, connect with your local Realtor for detailed information on the Victoria and area housing market.

Contact: Denise Hogue, Communications Manager - denise@vreb.org, 250-920-4652

 August 2017
Statistics Package for Media
Previous Periods Comparison of Unit Sales, Average Prices and Median Prices August 2017
01-Sep-2017 Previous Periods Comparison of Unit Sales, Average Prices and Median Prices

Sales by Property Type This Month Last Month This Month Last Year
2017 - August 2017 - July 2016 - August
Units LM% LY% Average$ LM% LY% Median$ LM% LY% Units Average$ Median$ Units Average$ Median$
Single Family Greater Victoria 339 -5.6% -17.7% $831,883 -4.2% 10.5% $749,900 -1.2% 16.3% 359 $868,008 $759,000 412 $752,509 $645,000
Single Family Other Areas 51 6.3% -23.9% $656,387 11.8% 16.0% $519,900 -4.6% 11.8% 48 $586,851 $545,000 67 $565,864 $465,000
Single Family Total All Areas 390 -4.2% -18.6% $808,933 -3.1% 11.4% $730,750 0.1% 16.9% 407 $834,850 $729,950 479 $726,403 $625,000
Condos 206 -15.2% -22.3% $414,637 3.0% 23.1% $367,500 -0.1% 25.0% 243 $402,499 $367,950 265 $336,902 $293,950
Townhouses 78 -2.5% 6.8% $556,840 9.9% 20.3% $527,550 11.7% 22.7% 80 $506,614 $472,500 73 $462,989 $430,000
Manufactured Homes 16 -23.8% -11.1% $210,969 -20.3% 25.9% $196,000 22.6% 26.4% 21 $264,576 $159,900 18 $167,506 $155,050
Total Residential 690 -8.1% -17.4% 751 835
Total Sales 736 -6.8% -16.6% 790 883

Active Listings 1,917 -0.2% -8.5% 1,921 2,094

Legend
Units: net number of listings sold
LM%: percentage change since Last Month
LY%: percentage change since This Month Last Year
Average$: average selling price
Median$: median selling price
Active Listings: total listings on the market at midnight on the last day of the month

Previous Periods Comparison of MLS HPI Benchmark Prices and MLS HPI Index Values
PreviousPeriodsComparisonofMLSHPIBenchmarkPricesandMLSHPIIndexValues
CommonlyQuotedBenchmarkHome August2017 July2017 August2016 August2017Index July2017Index August2016Index LM% LY%
BenchmarkPrice BenchmarkPrice BenchmarkPrice Value Value Value

SingleFamilyBenchmarkHome:GreaterVictoria $694,500 $700,800 $613,100 200.5 202.3 177.0 0.9% 13.3%

SingleFamilyBenchmarkHome:Core $823,100 $834,200 $743,200 215.3 218.2 194.4 1.3% 10.8%
SingleFamilyBenchmarkHome:Westshore $589,800 $589,800 $496,900 189.7 189.7 159.8 0.0% 18.7%
SingleFamilyBenchmarkHome:Peninsula $759,000 $753,200 $670,400 196.1 194.6 173.2 0.8% 13.2%

CondoBenchmarkHome:GreaterVictoria
Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple $435,200 $433,200
Listing Service $357,000 216.3 215.3 177.4 0.5% 21.9%1
TownhouseBenchmarkHome:GreaterVictoria $554,400 $542,200 $473,100 195.8 191.5 167.1 2.3% 17.2%

CurrentMonth: August2017
LastMonth: July2017
Legend LastYear: August2016
LM%: Percentagechangebetweencurrentmonthandlastmonth
LY%: Percentagechangebetweencurrentmonthandsamemonthlastyear

Victoria Real Estate Board August 2017 Statistics

 3,200
3,000
2,800
2,600
2,400
2,200
2,000
1,800
1,600
1,400

Apr 2017
Apr 2016

Jun 2017

Aug 2017
Jun 2016

Aug 2016

Sep 2016

Oct 2016

Nov 2016

Dec 2016

Jan 2017
Aug 2015

Sep 2015

Oct 2015

Nov 2015

Dec 2015

Jan 2016

Jul 2017
Feb 2016

Mar 2016

May 2016

Jul 2016

Feb 2017

Mar 2017

May 2017
Total new MLS
Total Newlistings
Ne and total
MLS Listings andMLS sales Sales
Total MLS for entire district
2,000

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

Sales
200 to Active Listings Ratio August 2017
Mar 2016

Apr 2016

Mar 2017

Apr 2017
Oct 2016
Aug 2015

Sep 2015

Oct 2015

Nov 2015

Dec 2015

Jan 2016

Feb 2016

Jun 2016

Jul 2016

Aug 2016

Sep 2016

Nov 2016

Dec 2016

Jan 2017

Feb 2017

Jun 2017

Jul 2017

Aug 2017
May 2016

May 2017
Friday, September 01, 2017

Listings Sales

Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service

Sales to Active Listings Ratio
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Jan 2016

May 2016

Jun 2016

Jan 2017

May 2017

Jun 2017
Aug 2015

Sep 2015

Oct 2015

Nov 2015

Dec 2015

Apr 2016
Feb 2016

Mar 2016

Apr 2017
Jul 2016

Aug 2016

Sep 2016

Oct 2016

Nov 2016

Dec 2016

Feb 2017

Mar 2017

Jul 2017

Aug 2017

This chart tracks the ratio of total residential sales over total active residential listings at month-end for each of
the last 25 months.
The active listing count and the sales count can be viewed as indicators of housing supply and demand
respectively. Observing the ratio between them can thus help indicate a "buyers' market", where there is
downwardThe pressure
Sales toon prices,
Active and aRatio
Listings "sellers' market", where there is upward pressure on prices.

- below 10%,
This chart there
tracks theisratio
downward pressuresales
of total residential on prices (buyers'
over total market) listings at month-end for
active residential
each of the last 25 months.
- above 25%, there is upward pressure on prices (sellers' market)
- inThe
theactive
15-20%listingrange,
count andthere
theissales
littlecount
pressure onviewed
can be pricesaseither wayof(balanced
indicators market)
housing supply and
demand respectively. Observing the ratio between them can thus help indicate a "buyers' market",
where there is sustained downward pressure on prices, and a "sellers' market", where there is
sustained upward pressure on prices.
Victoria Real
BasedEstate Board analysis performed by the Economics Department of the BC RealAugust
on a regression Estate 2017 Statistics
Association in each market area of the province, the Sales to Active Listings Ratio for Victoria can be
interpreted as follows:
 MLS HPI benchmark and value - Single Family Homes
The Victoria Real Estate Board uses the MLS Home Price Index (MLS HPI) to report on market
trends. The MLS HPI uses the concept of a benchmark home, a notional home with common
attributes of typical homes in a defined area.

Through the analysis of over ten years of Victoria Real Estate Board MLS sales data, the MLS
HPI defined benchmark homes for Victoria in each category (single family homes, townhouses,
condos) and for each neighbourhood. The benchmark starting point was 2005, where each type of
property and neighbourhood was assigned an index value of 100.

Victoria Real Estate Board August 2017 Statistics